Wire-handling apparatus.



W. W. STBINBR.

WIRE HANDLING APPARATUS APPLICATION FILED Amm, 1911.

l ,078,519, Patented Nov. 11, 1913.

IrrE s'rATEs PATENT oEEioE.

WILLIAM W. sTErNEE, or WELLMAN, iowa.

WIREt-HANDLING- .AJEPARATUS To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM W. STErNER,

.a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Wellman, in the county of Washington and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and `useful Improvements in Tire-Handling for use in liandlinoF wire es ieciall barbed wire, such as is used for fencing purposes, whereby suoli an apparatus is provided by which the wire may be conveniently andA rapidly reeledup, or paid out, as may be necessary either in building, or taking down such fences, and kept under tension during such operations, `all as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings i which are made a aart hereof and on which similar reference characters indicate similar parts, Figure 1 is a rear elevation of an apparatus of my improved construction carrying a reel such as is commonly used for the purpose described. Fig. 2 a sectional view through the saine, and Figs. 3. and!!L detail views. Y i

Said apparatus consists essentially of a truck adaptedto `support and manipulate the reel and it consists in a frame preferably composed of tubing, or gas pipe, connected by suitable fittings and supported on wheels. The frame consists of longitudinal side bars 10 connected by an arch composed of uprights 11 and a top cross bar 12, all connected by suitable fittings. An axle 13 is mounted in bearings in fittings near the lower end of the uprights 11 and carries wheels 14, which support the truck. The side bars 10 are connected at their front ends by a cross bar 15 carrying a central fitting 16 from the front of which adraft bar 17 extends having a handle 18 on its outer end, and from the underside of which a support-ing leg 19 depends, Vwhich is adapted to support the frame with the bars 10 in substantially a horizontal position. The rear ends of said bars 10 are connected by a cross bar 2() on which is mounted a sliding guide 21 through which the wire may be threaded for the purpose of guiding the same as it is wound upon, or unwound from, the spool. Said guide 21 has a link 22 pivoted thereto and an operating lever 23 is pivoted to the outer Specification of Letters Patent.

l Application filed August 8, 1911.

Patented Nov. 11, 1913.

serial 110.643,019.

end of said link. Said operating lever 23 is mounted on a pivot 241 on the axle 13 and has a handle 25 extending to a point in front of the apparatus in convenient reacliof the operator, whereby said guidemay be slid longitudinallyon bar 20lto guide `the wire for winding upon the reel.

On each of the uprights 11 at a suitable elevation above the axle 13 are mounted open-top bearings 2G to receive the shaft of the wire reel, or spool. Said reel comprises a shaft 27 having a crank 28 on one end and a ratchet-wheel 29cadjacent to said crank with which a pivoted pawl 3() on the adjacent upright 11 is adapted to engage to hold said reel against the strain of the work.

out therefrom, I provide a brake consisting of an angle bar 33 mounted on a pivot 3d on one of the uprights and having' a hook` shaped brake shoe 35 on its upper end adapt1 ed to hook over the reel shaft 27. The other end of said angle lever extends forward and is provided with a pawl 36 on its. outer end which is adapted to engage with the serrated edge ofa bar 37, which extends bef tween the upright 11 and the forward end of the horizontal bar 10. By this means, as will be seen, by lifting the outer end of the horizontal part of lever -33 the hook-shaped shoe 35 will be drawn with greater or less force upon the surface of shaft 27 and, as said shoe 35 is formed of considerable width,

V"ing too freely when the wire is being paid l iccy it acts as a brake and prevents said shaft ing. After the reel is filled it may be lifted bodily out of the open top bearings 26, the securing pin 79 removed and the reel frame slid from the shaft and another reel put in place on said shaft, which is again put in position in the bearings 26 of the frame and the operation continued. By this method any number of reels, or spools, may be filled with wire ready for transportation. In a like manner, reel after reel may be put in place on the machine and the wire conveniently paid out alongside the fence posts where it is being used for fencing, and the wire itself be paid out under the tension desired through the medium of the brake comprising the lever 22 with its brake-shoe 35, as before described. By this means an apparatus is provided which enables the fence wire, and especially barbed wire, to be handled conveniently and readily and with the least possible requirement for handling it with the hands.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. An apparatus for handling barbed Wire comprising a truck, bearings mounted on said truck, a reel shaft mounted in said bearings, a reel on said shaft, means for operating said shaft, a pivoted angle brake bar carrying'a brake shoe on one end engaging the reel shaft, and a pawl on its other end, anda notched bar with which said pawl is adapted to engage for holding said brake in the desired adjustment, substantially as set forth.

2. An apparatus for handling wire comprising a frame made of pipe and consisting of longitudinally extending side bars, transversely extending horizontal end bars, centrally located uprights, a transverse top bar connecting said uprights, suitable fittings connecting said several parts, an axle extending through fittings on said uprights, wheels on said axle, a central fitting on the front horizontal bar, a handle extending forward from said central fitting, a supporting leg extending down from said central fitting, a sliding guide on the rear horizontal bar, a lever connected to said sliding guide through a pivoted link, open-top bearings mounted on said uprights, a reel shaft in said bearings, a reel on said shaft, a cranlr on said shaft, a ratchet and pawl for holding said shaft against the strain of the work, and means for holding said shaft under a frictional brake, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal at Nellmam Iowa, this 3rd day of August, A. D. nineteen hundred and eleven.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

